


Reflections on an Ivory Tower

by Scribe34



Series: Conquer the Night [4]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions, Pocket Monsters: Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon | Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon Versions
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gladion "It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You" Mohn, Lillie Is Too Good For This Sinful Earth, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 07:46:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16739959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribe34/pseuds/Scribe34
Summary: Lillie sails from Melemele Island to Akala Island while Moon and Hau are enjoying a day of Mantine Surf."They weren't allowed to miss Dad, or to grieve him. But Lillie had missed him anyway. She'd thought of him every day and tried not to cry or think of him in the past tense, and she never mentioned him to Mother, whose smile grew hard and brittle every time he was brought up; or to Gladion, who flatly refused to talk about him. And now that Lillie was here, free and far away from the threat of punishment— she could feel whatever she wanted."She could feel whatever she wanted."





	Reflections on an Ivory Tower

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise! Instead of the first chapter of Quartet Part Two: Pink, have a very long oneshot.

“Krow, krow!”

Lillie blinked awake, startled at the harsh cry. The skylight window above her was still dark, and when she fumbled for her phone she found it was half-past five. Murkrow peered at her with beady eyes, clearly pleased with itself.

“Yes, all right, I'm getting up,” she murmured in response. “Thank you for waking me, Murkrow.”

“Pew!” chimed Nebby, floating up to the bed.

“Of course _you're_ awake.”

Despite the sarcasm she smiled at Nebby, to show she wasn't actually annoyed. Lillie wasn't sure if Nebby understood sarcasm or not, but she didn't like to presume things like that. Presuming things was a fairly dangerous pastime, in her experience.

Lapin was still asleep, curled up on his little mat. Lillie gently shook him awake before recalling him to his Pokéball. He would probably fall asleep again, but that was okay.

When she had finished getting dressed and ready for the day, she climbed down from the loft room and saw that Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet were already eating breakfast. Kukui, as per usual, was shirtless; but when Lillie came in, Burnet threw a shirt at him and he put it on without complaint. Rockruff and Snubbull were both eating Poké kibble, and a few of the other Pokémon that lived around the lab were scarfing down beans or birdseed or freeze-dried Bugs, depending on the Pokémon. There were two bowls of beans waiting for Nebby and Lapin as well, and she let them out to eat.

“Morning, Lillie! What's got you up so early?”

“I'm going to see Moon and Hau off before they leave,” explained Lillie. “And I wanted to catch another Pokémon before we set out for Akala ourselves.”

“Oh, cool!” Burnet beamed at her. “Did you have one in mind? A little Growlithe would be so cute with your Buneary, or maybe an Oricorio...”

“I do, actually.” Lillie retrieved a bowl and a spoon from the appropriate cupboard and served herself a bowl of Berry Hoops. They were a little too sweet for her liking, but she'd been made to eat Bouncy Bran every day at Aether and she didn't like it at all anymore.

Thoughts of carefully measured cereal portions and the bathroom scale crept into her mind without permission, and she shook them away before Kukui or Burnet realized something was wrong. “Um— I want to catch a Zorua.”

There was a pause, at that. Lillie poured milk into her bowl and began eating. She was determined not to say anything— she was a Trainer, a real Trainer, and she could catch whatever Pokémon she wanted, there was nothing _wrong_ with what she'd chosen... or was there? Maybe it was a bad idea—

“Zorua are cute too, yeah!” exclaimed Kukui, as cheerful as ever. “And Zoroark can grow to be very powerful. I think it would be a great addition to your little team, yeah.”

Lillie silently sighed with relief— of course they wouldn't judge her for her choices. Not kind-hearted Professor Kukui, or gentle Professor Burnet. “Could you lend me a Luxury Ball? I like how they look, and I think a Zorua might prefer it.”

“Sure, but they don't work so well with Zorua— they tend to be suspicious of Trainers.”

“I won't throw it until I'm a hundred percent sure that Zorua wants to go with me,” promised Lillie. “I know they're expensive, I don't want to be a bother—”

“Expensive? Lillie, a Luxury Ball is only about a thousand Poké. That's hardly anything.” Burnet's lips thinned, as they did occasionally when Lillie said something that didn't make sense to her. “But I know you'll use it responsibly. Take two, just in case— if you don't need the second you can give it back to Maleko.”

She went over to the tall cupboard where the professors kept tons of Pokémon supplies— it was nearly as well stocked as a Pokémon Center Mart, or the Aether Superstore. Not that Lillie had ever been to the Aether Superstore— it was too crowded, too full of people and noise and bright lights and dirt tracked in from elsewhere. Wicke would have taken her, if she'd asked; but if she'd gone to Wicke then Mother would have found out about it and then they would have both gotten in trouble and probably Wicke would have been fired and then Lillie would be alone, _all alone_ —

“Lillie?”

Lillie blinked. Burnet was holding out a pair of black-and-red Luxury Balls, watching her with a slightly concerned expression.

“I'm all right,” she said quickly. “It wasn't— um, it wasn't a panic attack or a flashback or anything. Just my imagination getting away with me.”

“It would be okay if it was,” Burnet reminded her. Lillie took the Luxury Balls, tucking them into her satchel. “I've got to head out— but I'll see you in a couple of days. I don't know how long Moon and Hau will stay in Heahea City, but if they head out to Route Four before you're ready, you can always come stay with me instead of at the Pokémon Center. In fact, you could do that anyway.”

“I'm grateful for the offer, but I'd really rather sleep in a bed than on your couch,” explained Lillie. “And it's a much further walk from your apartment to the Tide Song Hotel, than it is from the Pokémon Center to the hotel. I'd rather stay a bit closer.”

“That's where you're meeting your brother, yeah?”

Lillie nodded once.

“All right, all right,” chuckled Kukui, correctly reading her expression. “I get it, he doesn't want you to talk to us about him. But I'd like to meet him sometime, yeah? If he's ever open to the idea, you be sure and let us know. We'll have a family dinner.”

_The starched white dress was hanging from the upper railing of her four-poster bed, waiting for the appropriate hour. Wicke was methodically laying out her hairbrush, heating up the curling iron. There were socks with itchy lace at the cuffs, polished white Mary Janes, and a white ribbon for her hair—_

_—she arrived in the dining room at exactly six, trailing behind Gladion with her hand tucked into his until he wrenched it away. Mother eyed them both, amused; Wicke smiled reassuringly. They all sat down at the table, and the servants began carrying in supper—_

_—a fat meatball slipped off Lillie's fork, falling onto her dress. Ice filled her stomach, tears pooled behind her eyes, and Mother's expression went from serene to annoyed in an instant._

_“Mother,” said Gladion loudly, cutting off the impending lecture. “Mother, I'm concerned about the possible ethical implications of the Type: Null project.”_

_Mother's head whipped around to stare at Gladion, instead. Wicke picked up the meatball with a napkin, tucking it slightly under her own plate, and passed Lillie a bleach-pen so she could scrub at the red sauce on her lap—_

_—she was just so tired, her hands wrinkled from the hot water. All she could smell was spaghetti sauce and blue dish-soap. It was three-thirty, four, nearly five in the morning._

_“I think he's learned his lessons, so you can go to bed now,” said Mother sweetly. “Remember, breakfast is at seven...”_

“Lillie!”

“ _Sorry_!”

The world jerked around her. Lillie stumbled back slightly and collided with Kukui. He steadied her and let her go. Burnet was staring at her, wide-eyed.

“Okay,” admitted Lillie, feeling about an inch tall. “That one might have been a flashback.”

“Bun,” said Lapin, hopping over to her and tugging on her sock. Lillie bent and picked him up, running her fingers through his soft, fluffy fur. He hummed slightly, and some of the coiled-up heat in her neck and back faded to nothing.

Burnet's eyebrows creased in worry. “I can set you up with that therapist in Heahea City—”

“No, thank you.”

“All right, but the option's there if you want it. She's not affiliated with Aether.”

Lillie nodded once, stiffly.

“I'll write that one down on the list,” said Kukui softly to Burnet.

“Thanks, honey.”

Lillie's nose wrinkled at the reminder of _the list_. “I'm going to go,” she announced, recalling Lapin to his ball. “I have to meet Moon and Hau at six-fifteen at the Route One Pokémon Center. Nebby, please get in the bag.”

“Are you sure you're okay?”

“A walk will do me good,” she said, instead of answering the question. “Fresh air and all that. And talking to Moon and Hau is always helpful, too.”

“I know you've discussed Nebby with them, but have you considered telling them more about— your personal life?” pressed Burnet.

Lillie opened the front door, walking out onto the porch. Both professors followed her, which meant they _really_ wanted an answer to that question. She could get away with not answering it— there wouldn't be consequences for not answering a question here— but Lillie owed Kukui and Burnet for her life, frankly. She could answer a few questions.

“I've thought about it,” she said finally. Nebby was in the bag, oddly still; Lapin was asleep in his ball. “I want to talk to my brother about it first. He might not be comfortable if I talk about him too much, and a lot of it involves him, too.”

“That's fair.” Kukui nodded. “Well, run and catch up with Moon and Hau, then. I'll see you later, yeah?”

“I should be back by seven-thirty at the latest,” promised Lillie. “I might stay out and train for a little while. When do we need to leave?”

“We have to leave around nine if we want to get to Konikoni by two, and then we can run your errands and get to Heahea by five. Moon and Hau probably won't get to Heahea until six or so, yeah. Are you all packed and ready to go?”

“Yes, I'm ready.” Her clothes and things were stuffed into another satchel— a temporary measure, until they got to Lillie's errands at Konikoni City later. “I'll be back soon.”

“See you!”

She left them on the porch— Burnet waiting for a Ride Pager Charizard to pick her up and fly her over to Akala, Kukui seeing her off. It was a short walk up to the Pokémon Center, and as she had told both professors, the fresh air was the best thing possible for clearing her mind of any lingering bad memories.

Lillie was early for the rendezvous— an old habit that would likely die quite hard unless she pulled a Gladion, and began to be deliberately late to things. Moon was usually right on time, and Hau tended to be on time or late more often than not. She didn't really have anyone else with which she could compare things like that. She went to the café and bought a Komala Coffee with milk for Hau, a Tapu Cocoa with whipped cream for Moon, and a Roserade Tea with cream and sugar for herself.

“Good morning, Lillie!”

Moon and Hau arrived at the same time, both of them beaming at her.

Lillie offered them the drinks. “Good morning, Moon. Good morning, Hau.”

Moon made grabby hands at her cup. “Tapu Cocoa! Sweet. You're the best, Lillie.”

“Thanks!” Hau took his coffee, inhaling appreciatively before he took a sip. “Ah, that's the stuff. It's real sweet of you to pick that up for us.”

“It was no trouble,” murmured Lillie, wishing that her face would stop doing the thing that it did when anyone complimented her— which was to flush a bright, ugly cooked-Crabrawler-red color. “Did you both eat breakfast?”

“Yeah! Gramps got up early and made Kahuna pancakes.” Hau patted his stomach. “I'm full and ready to go.”

“When I lived in Kanto, eggs and bacon was like, a treat. Because we were kind of poor.” Lillie admired Moon's frankness about her past; it often gave her the courage to be more honest about her own struggles. “So I wake up to eggs and bacon, and I'm like, 'Mom, what's the occasion?' And she says, 'Well, my baby girl is headed out to a different island for the first time! I've got to make sure you're well fed!' I had like a whole epiphany about it. It _is_ kind of a big deal. We're almost adults, and we've been on our journey for a month but it was like, close to home. Now we're really _leaving_.”

“It's going to be fun,” said Lillie. They both smiled encouragingly at her— almost as if they knew she was trying to convince herself by saying it out loud. They were both able to read her fairly well, though Lillie had so far been able to pride herself on hiding all of the important things.

Was that really something to be _proud_ of, though? She would have to think about that.

Moon and Hau both bought lunch— sandwiches in plastic bags, which they could eat out on the ocean— and then they left, walking down Route One. Lillie waved them off from the doors of the Pokémon Center, waiting until they were out of sight before following them along Route One.

Her destination was the Trainer's School. There was almost nobody here at this hour of the day— a few janitors and probably Miss Emily, the principal. It was the perfect time to catch a Pokémon.

She had watched Moon catch a Zorua here, the first time they had all come venturing down Route One to start their journeys. Lillie just had Nebby then, constantly attempting to escape the bag despite her pleas; Moon's temperamental Dartrix had only been a Rowlet, and Hau's Brionne and Pikachu were still Popplio and Pichu. It had only been a few weeks ago, but it seemed like much longer.

Gladion had also given her advice about catching a Zorua— not that he had known that she would, eventually, go out and catch one. It was a detail from the handwritten letters he'd been sending to Burnet's lab, from an address in Konikoni City— though he told her he didn't live there. He'd mentioned stowing away on a ferry to Melemele Island and catching a Zorua for his own growing team, which had previously consisted of Zubat and Type: Null.

Lillie almost had another flashback thinking about Type: Null. She'd never seen one in person the way Gladion had, but what she remembered of the conversations surrounding its existence had been... stressful, to say the least.

“Okay,” she said out loud, taking Lapin's ball from her satchel. “Lapin, we're looking for a Zorua.” She let her Buneary out of his ball, and he nodded up at her to show he was listening. “Zorua is a little fox Pokémon. It has black and red fur, and bright blue eyes. Tell me if you see one.”

The two of them methodically combed through the grass. Nebby escaped the bag twice and accidentally chased off a Zorua once, after which Lillie confined her back to the bag with a completely empty threat to withhold Pokébeans for a day. Nebby sulked about it, but after that behaved herself with only the occasional pew to remind them of her presence.

“Bun,” said Lapin, after about ten minutes of searching.

“What's that?”

He nodded toward the edge of the tall grass. Lillie caught sight of a pair of bright blue eyes, peering at them from behind one of the school dumpsters.

“Hey, there,” she called softly. “Zorua, right? Would you like to battle us?”

At this, the fox took a few steps out from behind the dumpster. It had shiny, glossy fur and mischief in its eyes, which made her think of Gladion— not Gladion now, but Gladion a few years ago. Lillie liked it at once.

“What do you say to a wager?” she asked.

It tilted its head to one side, clearly intrigued. Zorua were tricksters; she had thought it would like that. “Rua?”

“If we win the battle, I'll capture you in a Pokéball and you can be part of my team. If you win...” Lillie debated. “I'll give you a sack of Pokébeans, all for yourself.”

The Zorua nodded eagerly. Lapin readied himself for the fight, looking approvingly at Lillie for a command.

“Lapin, use Quick Attack!”

Lapin shot out before the Zorua could do anything, striking with nimble paws. The Zorua responded with what looked to Lillie like Feint Attack— she'd seen it used a few times when Moon or Hau had battled other Trainers.

Eventually, Lillie and Lapin were able to overpower the Zorua, and as agreed, Lillie captured it in the Luxury Ball. The prompt appeared on the Dex app in her phone to name the little fox— a male. She thought about it for a few minutes— names were important, after all— and eventually typed _Umber_ into the box and submitted the name.

The Luxury Ball flickered with updated information: _Umber, Zorua, level six, male, Quirky nature, Illusion ability_... everything seemed to be fine. Lillie tucked Umber's ball into her satchel with Lapin's ball, and made her way back to the Pokémon Center to heal them both up.

She had some free time before they would have to leave, so she took Nebby, Lapin and Umber back over to Route One and trained for a little while. Lillie was nowhere near as good a Trainer as Moon or Hau— though she knew she ought to give herself more credit, having begun training Lapin only a week or so ago. And there were plenty of Inkay and Wingull in the grass near her home—

Lillie paused suddenly. At some point, the Professors' beach house become _home_ , to her.

Aether had been all she had ever known— clean, white, pleasant— but also sterile, frigid, loveless. Kukui and Burnet were often too busy to do things like cook and clean and tidy. Lillie tried to help, when she was there and remembered; but more often than not the beach house was quite messy. Sand got tracked in all the time, and the Pokémon that Kukui was training could be quite destructive. Rockruff, in particular, was prone to knocking holes in the walls and roof— though the Litten that had not been chosen by Hau or Moon had recently evolved into a Torracat and seemed to be very fond of knocking things off tables.

Gladion always claimed to be rebellious and sick of the whiteness and tidiness of Aether; but Lillie knew he would have hated the mess and noise of Kukui's home. He needed things to be organized, if not pristine. Wicke was the same way. Lillie didn't mind the mess so much— not when the cause of it was happiness, warmth, and cozy chaos.

“Rua?” inquired Umber, confused by her stillness.

“Sorry,” she told him. “Just— thinking.”

She finished her training and returned to the beach house. Professor Kukui had already left as well— he had a small bag to go on his own trip to Akala, though Lillie knew that he didn't plan on staying on the island for more than a few days. The only reason he was accompanying her in the first place was for Lillie's errands in Konikoni City— errands which required a legal adult, lest she risk discovery and Nebby's forced return to Aether. Lillie herself thought she would not mind going back so much on her own, as long as she was permitted to keep Lapin and Umber. But she shuddered to think of the further torture that Nebby would face, in the search for—

—well, she wouldn't think about that.

Kukui had left a note for her. _Lillie, be at the Hau'oli Marina at eight-thirty, yeah_! Lillie smiled to herself, put on her backpack and satchel, and began the twenty-minute walk.

Kukui's boat was seaworthy— if only barely. The sails were well-patched and the hull had clearly been repaired many times. Lillie had her brand-new hiking backpack on her back and her satchel over her shoulder. Nebby rode quietly inside, pewing cheerfully as they made their way onto the marina, where Kukui, Hala, and Ilima were waiting for them.

“There you are, Lillie!” Kukui beamed at her. “Moon and Hau stowed their things in the cabin on their way to the beach, and you can put your bags with theirs, yeah. Did you manage to catch a Zorua?”

“I did.” Lillie patted Umber's ball, then reached into her pocket to give the extra. “Here's the extra one.”

“Thanks, Lillie.” He put it into his own pocket and headed onto the boat to make the last preparations before they set sail.

“I know you're not on your island challenge,” said Ilima, clasping his hands together behind his back, “but would you mind if I offered you some advice for your journey all the same?”

“Ce serrait un honneur.” _It would be an honor_. Lillie remembered speaking Kalosian with Ilima a few weeks ago, though she blushed to think of how she had embarrassed poor Moon.

He grinned. “Merci. Tu es plus fort que tu ne le penses. Soyez fier de votre travail et de vous-même et vous réussirez bien au-delà de ce que vous auriez pu espérer.” _Thanks. You are stronger than you think. Take pride in your work and in yourself, and you will succeed far beyond what you could ever have hoped for_.

It was very sweet of him to say so. “Merci,” murmured Lillie, with a nod and a smile. Ilima reached out and patted her shoulder once.

“Between you and me,” he said hesitantly, “Moon isn't too— disappointed about not getting to know me better?”

Lillie knew what he was asking. “She's fine,” she assured him. “She said it was just a crush and she would be over it in a few weeks anyway.”

“Excellent.” Ilima looked relieved. “I'm not exactly seeing anyone, but I'm also... kind of keeping myself in reserve for someone. I didn't want to break her heart or anything.”

“Oh, so you _like_ someone?” It was easy to tease Ilima— rather like teasing Gladion when he was in a good mood. “Do we know them?”

“Ah— no. In fact, I don't know her either.” Ilima rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, looking suddenly shy. “We're pen pals, you see. Most high school students on Poni Island commute to Hau'oli, but many opt for independent study so they can work or help at home. Principal Emily organized a pen pal program for the Hau'oli City high school and Poni Island's independent study program. I've never met her and we use coded names, but she seems nice.”

“So it's a long-distance kind of thing?”

“Er— no.” Ilima flushed. He was very cute when he was flustered; she would have to tell Moon in a few weeks. “I wasn't really supposed to participate in the pen pal program. I'm twenty-one, and technically a teacher. My pen pal just graduated high school two years early and has begun her island challenge with special permission from all the kahunas, so she is most _certainly_ underage and we are very much not together, and will not be together, until she reaches the age of majority— if, in fact, she is still interested in me at that point.”

“I didn't hear about this,” said Hala, who had been listening the whole time. “But I do know exactly who you're talking about. There's only one underage Trainer I can think of who fits that description.”

Ilima's blush went from coral to beetroot red. “Well, I _don't_ , and we've agreed to keep it that way. I told her I'm a fairly prominent Trainer on Melemele Island, and she told me she's planning to be a fairly prominent Trainer on Poni Island once she's finished with her island challenge.”

Ilima's mystery not-girlfriend would have to wait, however; because Kukui had finished preparing the boat. “All right, Lillie! All aboard, yeah!”

“One moment, please!” She turned back to Ilima. “Thank you for the kind advice. I wish you luck with your pen pal, and I hope you get to meet and be happy once she's old enough. I suppose she would be about my age, wouldn't she?”

“Er— yes, she's sixteen.”

“There's a song about that,” said Hala, with a grin. “From an old Unovan musical. I don't clearly recall the plot, but I do remember the song. _You are sixteen, going on seventeen, baby, it's time to think_ —”

“Yes, I know the song,” said Ilima hastily, as Hala's admittedly magnificent, but very loud singing voice drew attention from passersby. “Anyway. Good luck on your journey, Lillie. And good luck helping your Cosmog with whatever she requires.”

“She's not _my_ —”

“She really is, but we understand why you haven't captured her,” said Hala, grinning as he opened his arms wide. “You don't mind if I hug you, do you? You're Hau and Moon's friend, and that makes you family.”

Lillie swallowed, thinking of _family_ — but she accepted the offer, and her courage was rewarded when she did not flashback to less pleasant hugs. Nebby pewed encouragingly from the bag.

“And you! I must say good-bye to you as well, little one.” Hala patted the bag, earning himself a cheerful pew. “Be good, and be sure to hide when little Lillie asks you to. She has your best interests at heart.”

“And that means staying in the bag,” added Ilima, with a chuckle.

“Pew,” said Nebby sadly.

“I know you hate it, but it is an unfortunate necessity if you don't want to be captured by the first unsavory stranger that happens to see you wandering in the open,” Lillie reminded her. “That could be Team Skull, or it could be someone who works for _him_. I'll leave it to you to decide.”

It was, perhaps, a bit manipulative of her. The moment the words left her lips Nebby fell silent, and Lillie realized that she had just spoken exactly like _Mother_ , and that was— that was so wrong.

She waved to Hala and Ilima and boarded the boat, somewhat subdued. Kukui started the engine and let out the sail, and they zipped out into the open ocean.

“Sorry,” she said to Nebby, opening the bag while Kukui was trimming the sails with the wind. “I didn't mean to say it like that. I just don't want you to get hurt, that's all. I don't want you to go back.”

Nebby floated out of the bag, settling on Lillie's lap. She was vibrating slightly— trembling, perhaps. “Pew pew. Pewpew.”

“I will defend you from anyone who tries to hurt you,” promised Lillie. “And you'll never go back to— to Faba. I promise.”

It was the first time she'd said his name out loud since leaving Aether. Nebby shuddered once, but she smiled as timidly as Lillie herself might have done, and Lillie knew that she was forgiven. Nebby was not the sort to hold grudges, as long as apologies were forthcoming and sincere.

Lillie, Kukui, and all the Pokémon with them ate lunch on the boat, and they pulled into Konikoni's harbor at a quarter to two.

“Where do we go first?” Kukui asked her, raising one eyebrow. “These are your errands, yeah.”

“Oh, right. Um—” Lillie opened her satchel and rifled around around Nebby to find the stack of letters from Gladion, which she kept carefully rubber-banded together. The most recent one was at the top of the stack, and contained some information about some resources that Wicke had put together for her. She had to reread the whole letter to find what she was looking for.

 

_Hey, sister._

_So W's made a bank account for you under a false name: the first name is your middle name and the last name is Jones. (The one she made for me is my middle name, so I know she thinks she's being clever.) You have a debit card— no credit. So make sure you get receipts to check your balance every time you withdraw from an ATM. Also, don't ever use the same ATM twice in a row. It's possible to track ATM usage by bank account, so if L. were to find out the false name she could have someone in IT tracking you. I recommend making another account, for the money you'll get as a Trainer. If you're successful in battling, that's your own money, not dirtied by Aether. If your account from W. is ever compromised, you can use that one instead._

_Anyway, she sent the bank information and the debit card to her apartment in Konikoni City. The address is ______________. I can't meet you there— one of her neighbors thinks I'm trying to rob the place and calls the cops whenever I show up— but I've enclosed my key for you. You'll find your own key with the bank information and the debit card. W. has probably written up a letter telling you how to contact her through email. I have a Pokétch that I've been using for everything, which is nice because most people think it's a Z-Ring and assume I'm on my island challenge if I'm not wearing the Team Skull stuff. I know you have a phone, but DO NOT contact me or W.with your phone. If you need to call or email one of us, use a public payphone or a library computer._

— _your brother_

 _ps. I know it's a lot of money, but there's no point in arguing with W. about anything ever so just don't question it_.

 

“We have to go to— um, my sponsor's apartment,” said Lillie, finally spotting the information that Kukui had requested. “She's left information about a bank account and a debit card. My brother mailed me his key to her apartment, so we can get in. I'll have to give it back to him when I meet up with him later.”

“Great! Have you got an address? Let me just plug it into my Dex, and it should take us right there, yeah!”

As Gladion had promised, the key opened Wicke's clean, mostly empty apartment. There was a bed and a table and a couch, and the fridge and pantry were stocked with long-lasting food items; but everything looked barely lived-in at all. There was a big, dark-yellow envelope on the table, with _ASW to LKM_ written on it in Wicke's artfully loopy cursive.

The envelope contained the bank information and the PIN number she would need to access an account belonging to one Katherine Jones— not that there was any such person, of course; but she had never been fond of her middle name. Then there was a key, identical to the one that had let them into the apartment; and a nondescript debit card in a tranquil shade of magenta.

There was also a bundle of Poké, neatly rubber-banded together. Lillie's eyes widened at the first twenty-thousand note and she riffled through the stack to estimate that she was holding at least ten million Poké in her hands, which— that was a _lot_ of money.

“And it looks like there's a letter for you, yeah,” said Kukui, picking up a smaller pink envelope that had slid onto the floor when she opened the big yellow one..

 

_Dear Lillie,_

_I'm so, so glad that you were able to get in touch with me. I was very worried when Cosmog teleported you out of the conservatory— all of the data Aether gathered suggests that it has no control over where it warps, but evidently that is not the case as the two of you made it to land— a statistical improbability given the ratio of ocean to land in Alola._

_However, this did put a wrench in the escape plans we had previously established. You were unable to access the Aether boat where I had left the original version of this letter, the bank account information, and the ready-to-hand cash enclosed in the yellow envelope. I was forced to hide these things until I could send them to my apartment._

_Gladion has been in contact with me, as you learned shortly after you asked me to help you with Cosmog's escape. However, it would not be a good idea for you to rely upon his help. He has affiliated himself with Team Skull. In terms of strategy in hiding from Lusamine, this was a very good move. In practicality, he is an idiot, and I wish for you to tell him so the next time you see him._

_I am very glad that you were able to find Elikapeka Burnet— or Elizabeth, as she told me she prefers in our email exchange regarding you. She is possibly the best person to help you with your issues with Cosmog. And as I have told you in our own Pokémail exchange, she is probably the **worst** person for Gladion to meet— so I will remind you once again that you must keep Gladion and especially Type: Null well away from the Pokémon Professors, who will no doubt wish to study it. It is likely that they will be preoccupied with Cosmog, but you may play the situation off as your brother's paranoia and frankly, you wouldn't even be lying._

_If you need to contact me, you have my personal, non-work Pokémail address— incrediblyamelia@poké.com.alo. Gladion will no doubt give you his own Pokémail address in person. I would give it to you myself, but he's picked up email encryption from somewhere so I don't actually have his address._

_Be safe and good. I hope to hear from you soon._

_Love, Amelia_

 

“Lillie, hey.” A box of tissues was thrust into her face. “Don't cry, yeah? You're okay. You're safe and sound and provided for.”

“I know,” sobbed Lillie. “I just miss her so much. _I miss her so much_.”

“Pewewewewewewewewew,” trilled Nebby worriedly.

“And I miss Gla— I miss my brother, and I miss Mama, and I miss _Dad_ —” and at this she broke, no longer able to articulate words separately. Raw, gut-wrenching grief shot through her from shoulders to gut, folding her in two like a clean towel.

They weren't allowed to miss Dad, or to grieve him. But Lillie had missed him anyway. She'd thought of him every day and tried not to cry or think of him in the past tense, and she never mentioned him to Mother, whose smile grew hard and brittle every time he was brought up; or to Gladion, who flatly refused to talk about him. And now that Lillie was here, free and far away from the threat of punishment— she could feel whatever she wanted.

 _She could feel whatever she wanted_.

The first matter of business, with all of her shiny new things, was for Lillie to pay Kukui and by extension Burnet for how much it had cost them to take care of her and house her— not to mention all of the pricey paperwork that revolved around Lillie applying for financial independence (paperwork that had been mailed to Wicke, instead of Mother; and slipped into a thick stack of documents that needed signatures so that Mother would sign it without so much as reading it) and beginning a Trainer-journey-that-was-not-an-island-challenge before she had technically graduated high school.

Kukui refused to accept the wad of Poké she separated from the ridiculous stack, waving her off. “Ellie would kill me if I took it,” he said firmly. “Taking care of you isn't something we need to be paid for, yeah? We'd both call that a labor of love, Lillie.” He hesitated, then added quietly, “We've been trying to have kids for a while now, and just before you came to us we'd found out that we can't. Ellie's been exposed to too much radiation, working with wormholes; and I've just got a pretty low sperm count to begin with, yeah. So we see you as family. Maybe not a _daughter_ exactly, but a favorite niece, yeah?”

The crying session was resumed briefly at this— neither Mother nor Dad had siblings so it had always been just the four of them, until it had just been the three of them— until it had just been the two of them. But Kukui and Burnet had to be paid, Lillie knew that much; a whole extra person would be a strain on anyone's budget and they hadn't planned for her at all. So she slipped a good five hundred thousand Poké into his pocket when he wasn't looking, and decided to call it enough. They couldn't have spent more than that to take care of her, surely.

The rest went into the bank, with about fifty thousand tucked into Lillie's wallet for immediate expenses and emergencies. Lillie had to remember to sign Katherine Jones on all of the deposit forms and things. Wicke had already put quite a bit of money into the account, but Konikoni City was populated largely by the wealthy of Alola so nobody batted an eye at either the balance or the deposit. The bank-teller even gave her a checkbook that would fit nicely inside her wallet.

They returned to the boat and sailed around the rocky bluffs that separated Konikoni City from Heahea City, and Kukui parked the boat along one of the docks.

“And we're here, yeah!” he said cheerfully. “Moon and Hau probably won't be along for a couple hours, but I betcha when they get here they'll be starved. Anything else on your agenda, Lillie?”

“Just the one thing,” said Lillie absently, opening up her phone. “As you know, I'm planning on meeting up with my brother later— oh, good, he sent me a message about it.”

 

From: ****************@****.***.***

To: missrapunzel@poké.com.alo

Re: meetup

 

Tide Song Hotel lobby @ 9:30 pm. Please bring my key with you.

 

—G

 

“He wants to meet at the Tide Song Hotel at half-past nine tonight.”

“Good, good. I'm guessing he doesn't want you to bring anyone with you, yeah?”

“Presumably he won't mind my team.”

“I meant people,” laughed Kukui. “Alola's a pretty safe place in general, but Heahea's a big enough city that you don't really want to be walking around alone after dark if you can help it— that goes double for cute young women.”

“I'll be fine, then,” said Lillie, making the joke that Mother would have made before she could reconsider.

“Lillie—”

“Sorry.”

“I think you can take care of yourself, but Moon and Hau will probably want to walk you, at least.”

“One of them can walk me there, and my brother can walk me back.” Everything would be fine, Lillie was certain. “Will Moon be okay on her own, if she's the one who comes with me?”

“Moon is—” Kukui paused. “No offense, Lillie; but Moon is sturdier than you, and she commuted to high school in a large city for four years. She's got city sense, and you don't.”

She couldn't very well be offended by the truth. “I suppose that is true.”

Heahea bustled around them— a mix of ocean noises, water rushing around the boat in waves and Wingull crying from where they perched on buildings and boats and trees; and city noises— people talking, cars honking and rumbling, and all kinds of beeps and chimes and bursts of music when people opened or closed doors. Lillie took in the noise and watched the sea as it shimmered blue around the boat.

“Look who's a stale malasada now!”

That was Moon's voice. Lillie turned, with a smile, to face her friends.

 

**Author's Note:**

> "She was determined not to say anything— she was a Trainer, a real Trainer, and she could catch whatever Pokémon she wanted, there was nothing wrong with what she'd chosen... or was there? Maybe it was a bad idea—" — Imposter Syndrome is alive and well with Lillie, folks
> 
> Lillie having flashbacks: whoops I made myself cry
> 
> The List is a thing that will return at some point in Quartet Part Two and probably many times after that, pls stay tuned
> 
> Friendly reminder that Gladion Arthur "it's-not-paranoia-if-they're-really-out-to-get-you" Mohn is still a thing
> 
> "Nebby escaped the bag twice and accidentally chased off a Zorua once, after which Lillie confined her back to the bag with a completely empty threat to withhold Pokébeans for a day." — Lillie's actually too gentle to discipline Nebby in any way I AM SOFT
> 
> "At some point, the Professors' beach house become home, to her." — stab, twist knife, repeat
> 
> I must once again apologize for the flagrant misuse of Google Translate. Kalosian = French but this time I added the English in italics.
> 
> Ilima totally noticed that Moon had a small Thing for him but he was concerned about not hurting her feelings, what a gentleman I stan
> 
> Ilima has a GIRLFRIEND??? or as he says, a female pen pal who is definitely NOT a girlfriend until she turns eighteen because Ilima is 1) a good man who knows that dating a high-school aged girl would be creepy and 2) an enthusiastic proponent of Legal Age of Consent
> 
> Also Ilima's girlfriend is a real canon character, if you're smart you probably can already guess who it is
> 
> Hala singing The Sound of Music: an aesthetic. He totally has a nice rich singing voice too.
> 
> Gladion doesn't actually write names in his communication, he's too paranoid lmao
> 
> Wicke leaves Lillie 10 million Poké, which I'm estimating to be about a hundred thousand dollars if we just move the decimal point two spaces— a Pokéball costs 300P and it would be about 3 bucks or so, easily affordable by a kid. Wicke is the definition of extra.
> 
> also wow, I cried writing Wicke's letter
> 
> Kukui and Burnet not being able to have kids is a thing that I was inspired to write because a couple so canonically affectionate and people oriented would probably WANT to have kids, right? Well they can't, because science; so they're just going to adopt all the Pokémon and also Lillie low-key on the side, because Wicke has first dibs on adopting Lillie tbh
> 
> Lillie and Rapunzel are eerily similar tho
> 
> and that's a wrap, folks, hope you enjoyed this oneshot


End file.
